UFC
206 on Dec. 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto had a little
bit of everything, from legitimate “Knockout of the Year,” “Fight
of the Year” and “Round of the Year” contenders to a co-main event
clash between two of the sport’s most violent welterweights and a
coming-of-age performance by a man many had long viewed as a future
champion in the headliner.

Vannata knocked out John
Makdessi with a sensational wheel kick in the first round of
their preliminary lightweight tilt. Vannata brought it to a close
1:40 into Round 1, putting his name in the running for “Knockout of
the Year.” Makdessi engaged the 24-year-old on the feet, working
behind a sneaky jab. However, Vannata closed the distance with two
sidekicks to the thigh, forced the Canadian to move to his right
and clipped him on the chin with his heel. Makdessi hit the canvas
unconscious. No follow-up shots were necessary.

The knockout was just the appetizer. A main card encounter between
Cub
Swanson and Doo Ho Choi
had fireworks written all over it, and the two featherweights did
not disappoint. Swanson won a firefight for the ages, as he
outlasted Choi to a unanimous decision in a magnificent three-round
battle. All three cageside judges scored it for Swanson: 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28.

Choi found success in the first round with standing knee strikes
from the front headlock position, precision jabs and stabbing
straight right hands to the body. A brawl developed in the middle
frame, giving way to perhaps the most memorable five minutes of
2016. Both men were hurt during wild exchanges. Swanson executed a
takedown and mounted briefly before returning to his feet, where he
landed everything from a spinning backfist and a cartwheel kick to
sweeping hooks with both hands. Still, Choi refused to go away.

Swanson was in trouble early in Round 3 but regained momentum with
a head-and-arm throw. They spent the final minute firing power
punches at one another. His 13-fight winning streak nearing its
end, Choi collapsed in the waning seconds and absorbed heavy
ground-and-pound until the horn sounded, the crowd of 18,057
roaring its approval.

The theatrics from Swanson and Choi largely overshadowed what
followed, as Donald
Cerrone knocked out
Elevation Fight Team rep Matt Brown
with a third-round head kick in their welterweight co-headliner.
Brown met his end 34 seconds into Round 3, as he suffered his third
straight defeat.

Cerrone overcame some adversity to get his hand raised: He escaped
a triangle choke in the first round and ate a crushing overhand
right in the second that briefly sat him down. However, he hammered
away at Brown with a steady diet of kicks to the legs, body and
head, leaving him with cuts near both eyes. The two rivals embraced
in a show of respect at the start of Round 3. Moments later,
Cerrone drilled “The Ultimate Fighter 7” alum with a counter right
hook and caught him ducking. The sickening thud of shin meeting jaw
came next, as Brown came to rest on the canvas.

From there, Max
Holloway seized the spotlight, as the Hawaiian buried Anthony
Pettis with a volley of third-round punches and captured the
interim UFC featherweight title in the headliner. Pettis wilted
4:50 into Round 3, as he was stopped for the first time in his
25-fight career.

Not much went right for “Showtime.” Holloway started piecing
together punches in the first round and left him with significant
damage to his right eye. More of the same followed in Round 2,
where the he sat down Pettis with a right hand, countered
beautifully and worked over his body with punches. Making matters
worse for the Milwaukee native, he retreated to his corner having
suffered an apparent hand injury.

Holloway took down the Roufusport star twice in the third before
authoring the stoppage. The 25-year-old lit up Pettis with a body
kick, backed him to the fence and unleashed with punches to the
head and body that doubled over the former lightweight champion and
forced referee Yves Lavigne to step in.

Lost in the buzz of Holloway’s mastery, Cerrone’s shin-to-skull
violence, the Swanson-Choi epic and Vannata’s highlight-reel kick,
the rest of UFC 206 gave rise to outstanding efforts from Kelvin
Gastelum, Misha
Cirkunov and Olivier
Aubin-Mercier. Gastelum disposed of Tim Kennedy
with third-round punches, Aubin-Mercier brought down Drew Dober
with a rear-naked choke and Cirkunov cemented his place as a top 10
light heavyweight by taking out Nikita
Krylov with a guillotine choke.

UFC 206 was that rare instance in which the stars aligned in the
MMA sky, much like UFC on Fox 5, UFC 166, UFC 178 and UFC 194
before it.